Is Game of Thrones Too Violent? George R.R. Martin Defends the Bloodshed

It's a running joke amongst Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire fans that if you like a character, you should expect him or her to die in some gruesome and horrible way when you least expect it. And that's only a bit of an exaggeration. The story is extremely violent — most characters who aren't dead have suffered some sort of horrific injury or threat by this point. Is it too much?

In a recent interview withLe Grand Journal, A Song of Ice and Fire author and Game of Thrones executive producer George R. R. Martin defended the violence in his story, explaining that he's just reflecting real life history.

“People say to me, ‘How do you invent such a bloody history? Why do you kill so many people?’ If you look at the actual sources, if you look at the actual stories of the Hundred Years’ War, or the War of the Roses, or the crusades... I’m a piker compared to the stuff that happened in real history. Real history was written in blood. And the kinds of things our ancestors did to each other is just amazing."

He added, "People seem to be amused by reading it, so I like telling fascinating stories."